In the wake of the tragic elementary school shootings in the United States, broadcast executives have been finding themselves under more than the usual scrutiny over the issue of violence on television.

If there was one overarching theme from the Television Critics Association conference in California as it ended last week, it was concern over whether TV violence is impacting society and the thorny issue of accountability.

Executives have not won fans among lobby groups such as the Parents Television Council, which has long maintained that violence on TV has been increasing as prime-time family-friendly fare decreases.

The council recently condemned ABC for a “graphic and disturbing” torture scene on its political thriller Scandal. The scene, which seemed inspired by films such as Zero Dark Thirty, depicted a man being water-boarded and tortured for nearly three minutes.

And there is more to come as the 2013 TV season gets underway. This year, two serial killer series, The Following starring Kevin Bacon and Hannibal, a prequel to the Silence of the Lambs, will debut. And executives were put in the hot seat over the graphic material. But anyone expecting them to accept responsibility would be disappointed.

“I’m not a psychologist, but I’m not sure you can make that leap that a show about serial killers will cause more violence,” said NBC chair Robert Greenblatt, whose network is releasing Hannibal. Greenblat, meanwhile, was responsible for green-lighting that other serial killer show, Dexter, when he was the head of Showtime.

CBS Entertainment head Nina Tassler said networks are simply doing what they have been doing for years: “At the end of the day, justice is served, the good guys prevail and the bad guy goes to jail.”

Violence on TV certainly isn’t a new topic. But it has taken more edge since the December murders of 20 elementary schoolchildren and six educators at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Conn. The massacre has opened up a wider discussion on everything from gun control to mental health issues and TV violence.

Earlier this month, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden met with network executives before making recommendations to President Barack Obama on ways to curb violence and determine a framework for gun control legislation.

One issue for networks is that their audiences are being eroded by cable shows that are frequently edgier and more violent, and they sometimes feel they have to compete, Phil King, CTV president of programming, said in an interview.

King is one of the largest Canadian buyers of U.S. network shows.

“The U.S. networks feel they have to get edgier. But that’s tough given the environment and the violence that has happened in this country. Thank God it’s not happened in a major way in ours,” says King.

“So on one side the public doesn’t feel it’s appropriate given the violence. On the other hand it’s what the public seems to want. So it’s a tough balancing act.”

King’s network is broadcasting The Following, a gritty look at a band of serial killers and one of the most anticipated new series of the year. Police action series are marketable because they play well in all markets. And it seems programmers have learned a dose of violence doesn’t hurt in getting eyeballs.

“We’re in the business of giving people what they want, not to force them into something they should like,” says King.

The Following’s Canadian co-star, Shawn Ashmore, defended the show. It “doesn’t glorify violence,” he said. “It shows the reality of what’s out there . . . this is not a romantic view of violence.”

But FX president John Landgraf was frank when he said that violence sells, noting that the most popular shows on cable inevitably have some violent component to them.

“The top six are all in some way about violence,” he says. “Let’s not kid ourselves. That will always be very compelling for people to watch.”

Landgraf told TV critics that the TV industry should study whether there is a link between violence on television and in society.

U.S. President Barack Obama echoed those sentiments in his speech last week on gun control, saying he would direct the Centers for Disease Control to study the issue and direct Congress to look at video games and their effect on children.

Obama also said Congress should restore a ban on military-style assault weapons.

Landgraf said he doesn’t allow his own teenage children to play violent video games.

He also noted that gun homicide per capita is 90 times higher in the United States than in the U.K., although “we consume the same media: same movies, same television show, same video games.”

He said access to guns and automatic weapons was the start of the problem.

“You simply can’t create that kind of mayhem if you have to reload.”

But asked whether the trend to more explicit violence on TV would go away, Landgraf said it wasn’t likely.

“We’re animals; our greatest fear is death and if you want to rivet people . . . you’re going to tend to hover around questions of life and death, because that’s the thing that rivets our attention.”